


"I'm So Scared."

by MusingsOfSaturn



Series: Kristanna Week 2020 [5]
Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Anxiety, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:54:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27574802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusingsOfSaturn/pseuds/MusingsOfSaturn
Summary: Anna and Kristoff share their fears as they embark on their engagement-coronation tour.
Relationships: Anna/Kristoff (Disney)
Series: Kristanna Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2008000
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	"I'm So Scared."

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, I’m so sorry that this one is late - I had a massive issue with my laptop and literally had to reset it to fix it so I haven’t been able to post while I was working that out. But hey, at least I can continue the fun of Kristanna Week for an extra day!
> 
> You guys, this is possibly my favourites of my oneshots for Kristanna Week. The prompt suggested sadness, water, and calm, and I don’t normally like writing sad stuffs (quelle surprise, it makes me sad), but this one a. has a happy ending, and b. I enjoyed writing anyway. Also, we all know that Anna probably has some serious mental health issues following That Childhood - yikes! - and this does suggest anxiety/panic attacks. Just a heads up in case you’d rather not read that!
> 
> ~ Saturn

Anna tried to take a deep, steadying breath, gazing out over the ocean as the ship set sail from Arendelle. Her mind was racing and she was visibly tense, her limbs trembling as her fight or flight reaction threatened to kick in. Kristoff could hear her breaths in short, sharp inhalations that made his heart break.

“Hey,” Kristoff spoke softly. He placed a reassuring hand over her own, which was gripping the railing at the bow of the ship so tightly that her knuckles were turning white.

“I don’t think I can do this,” she stated through gritted teeth and in between heaving breaths.

“Yes, you can,” he reassured her.

“Kristoff, I-” She finally took her eyes off the waves to look up at him with blue eyes brimming with tears. “I’m so scared.”

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. She relaxed into his embrace but he could feel that she was still shaking with fear. Against his torso, he thought he could feel just how hard her heart was pounding. He wished more than anything that he could take her panic and hurl it into the water. However, as that option wasn’t available to him, he settled for a soothing voice and calming words.

“Anna, trust me. It’s going to be okay.”

Kristoff could feel her hand twisting at the ring on her finger, a habit she’d taken to whenever she felt uncertain or anxious. Prior to their engagement, her nervous habit had been to rub the pads of her thumb and forefinger together. Now that she had the ring, the solid metal, warmed by its constant proximity to her flesh, provided her with the perfect comforting motion.

She spoke weakly, her voice muffled into his lightweight shirt. “I just keep thinking that history is going to repeat itself and something terrible is going to happen.” Kristoff heard her suck in a shuddering breath. “I don’t want to lose you.”

He knew exactly what troubled her. He himself had often wondered about her parents’ death, and he had never even met them. Kristoff couldn’t imagine the fear they must have felt as the waves rose high above them, dashing the royal ship against the sharp rocks that sent her sinking down to the ocean floor. It seemed a dreadful, terrifying way to lose a life, and so Kristoff completely understood why sailing away from Arendelle was causing such fear in Anna now.

Tenderly, he rubbed her back reassuringly through her thin summer dress. “You’re not going to lose me. Anna, what happened to your parents was an accident. A terrible, tragic, freak accident. There hasn’t been a storm at this time of year for over half a century, and Captain Sørensen is the most proficient seaman in the kingdom. I promise you, we are going to be absolutely fine.”

She pulled away, dabbing at her eyes in embarrassment. “I know that you’re right, but I’m still scared.”

He reached out a hand to touch her cheek, wiping away her tears. “It’s okay to be scared. I’m scared too,” he admitted. Anna looked up at him inquisitively, and he went on, “I’ve never left the kingdom. I don’t know what to expect from the people where we’re going - I don’t know their customs, or how accepting they’ll be of us... of me.” He shrugged. “It’s scary, not knowing what to expect.”

Anna offered him a weak smile, turning back to face the ocean. “Well, you’re in luck there. Our first stop on the tour is Corona, and my cousin there married a _thief_. I don’t think my ice harvester could shock anyone there.”

Kristoff was glad that she wasn’t looking at him anymore. It gave him chance to recover from the blush that rose to his cheeks at the endearing way she’d called him _her_ ice harvester. Three and a half years at her side, and she could still make his heart flutter with just a few words. He grimaced inwardly at his own sappiness.

“It will be nice to see Auntie Arianna again. You know, I haven’t seen her for eighteen years. Eighteen years! I don’t even remember what she looks like. She and Uncle Freddie used to come to Arendelle every other Christmas, but they stopped after-” Her breath hitched as she once again thought of her parents. “Well, you know.”

Kristoff wrapped an arm around Anna’s shoulder, and she nestled herself into his side. She was warm, and familiar, and Kristoff listened attentively as she continued talking.

“They always seemed so sad to me, and of course I never understood why at the time. Rapunzel disappeared before I was even born. No one would have told me when I was little, but obviously now that I know, I get it. She was gone for _so long_ , Kristoff. It must have been so awful. I don’t know how I’d be anything but sad if someone kidnapped _our_ child. Wait-” Anna tensed against Kristoff’s body as she started to backtrack. “I don’t mean our child, like, _our_ child, like I’m not, we’re not- I just, I meant, not _now_ , obviously but-”

A large hand over her mouth put an end to her word vomit. Sometimes he’d take a more gentle approach to stop her babbling, but normally a firmer method was more efficient. That was a fact he’d discovered on the first day he ever met her.

“One day.” Kristoff finished her sentence for her, and she nodded. He dropped his hand from her mouth, and looked down at her as she smiled up at him.

“One day,” she agreed. The pair turned back to the waves in front of them. “It’s sort of... pretty, isn’t it?”

Anna could feel herself relaxing physically and mentally, and she sucked in a deep breath of the crisp sea air. She knew she was safe with Kristoff by her side, and she looked with enthusiasm to the joint engagement-coronation tour that lay ahead of them.

“Almost as pretty as you are, feistypants.”

Kristoff yelped as Anna elbowed his ribs, laughing at just how corny he sounded.


End file.
